During the first half of November the Seattle International Film Festival will be presenting showings of films by Werner Herzog and David Cronenberg, two idiosyncratic and independent directors whose recent successes have sparked a revival of interest in careers that now span four decades.

The Herzog screenings are not a retrospective but a “tribute” and feature four newer films, including The Wild Blue Yonder, a science-fiction/science-fact “existential mystery” that has received favorable attention at a number of recent film festivals. Herzog first came to notice in the 1970s as one of the pre-eminent German New Wave directors and was known for his fantastic, lyrical treatments of outsiders and visionaries. Aguirre, Wrath of God, arguably his masterpiece, featured a dazzling performance by Klaus Kinski as a conquistador desperately searching for El Dorado in the South American jungle and sliding ever deeper into madness. Herzog’s films have always tended to include a documentary component — as hallucinatory and bizarre as Aguirre may seem, for example, the story is based in historical fact, and the lengths to which Herzog went to film it on location are now the stuff of legend. In recent years Herzog has become better known for his documentaries than his fictions. Grizzly Man, an account of the life and death of bear fancier/fanatic Timothy Treadwell, was very well received at SIFF last year and enjoyed almost universally positive reviews.(more…)

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Great Directors: Herzog and Cronenberg Series

Earlier this August, I expressed my opinion of Lincoln Tower — namely, that I thought it was overpriced, even for the area, and that I had been hoping for some good shopping or good eating, and so far didn’t see anything to pee my pants over.(more…)

Posted in retail | Comments Off on Scenes Around Town: Countdown to Thanksgiving

The husband is a stay-at-home sort, so I left him at home with a bowl of candy. Those poor little kiddies walking around in the pouring rain: the very least we could do was to be home and give them candy for all their pains. As I pulled out onto the road I could see small groups of people walking around decked out in raincoats and umbrellas. I guess we all dressed up as the same thing this year: drowned Seattlites.(more…)

Posted in retail | Comments Off on Scenes Around Town: Meanwhile, at the mall…

. . . previously on Grey’s Anatomy [mb]We pick up a few minutes after last week’s episode. Which brings up an interesting narrative strategy that they’ve got going on this season. Basically, there’s only been about a week passing since last season’s cliffhanger. Anyway, the interns are still at their favorite bar in “Seattle”. Joe is tending the bar, and Meredith is still waiting for Patrick Dempsey to show up after last week’s sappy ultimatum. Meredith, now infused with a fair dosage of tequila is questioning her choice of words. She actually said “pick me” and justifiably horrified. She likens it to Carrie at the prom with the pigs’ blood, and I think that most of us agree. Joe sticks up for Carrie, because she was all about the vengeance.

Cynical as ever, Sandra Oh wonders how long the rest of them need to wait. George is amazed that they don’t believe in the power of their love. Isabel agrees that it’s getting hard to watch. When Grey overhears her friends deeming her pathetic, she has an angry little speech that culminates with a request to dump the pigs’ blood on her now to get it over with. As other non-Dempsey patron enter this Seattle hotspot, Meredith seems to realize that he really isn’t coming.

Suddenly everyone in the bar is very interested in the bar’s television, which shows a breaking news story about a horrific train wreck. As the other drinkers congregate to get a closer look at the disaster, the sweet sound of pagers going wild can be heard coming from the interns. With a 911 page after thirty hours of work, George’s first thought it to panic about not having clean underwear. Would his mother be proud or disappointed? As the young doctors rush out, Joe is incredulous about Meredith’s departure because (1) she needs some coffee due to her drunkenness, and (2) like us, he’s become a little bit invested in the result of tonight’s waiting game, but Meredith explains that she’s “gotta go clean up someone else’s train wreck.” Yes folks, they built an entire episode around an idiom and you’re still surprised?

After the jump, catch up with the rest of the episode. Lots of train crash victims including strangers skewered together on a metal pipe, a pair of pushy pregnant ladies, a severed foot scavenger hunt, Alex’s missing mojo, and the resolution to whether Meredith’s “pick me!” speech paid off!(more…)

I passed this sign walking down Eastlake today, and it’s a little sad that they don’t mention where they found the dog. Still and all, though, I sort of want to call them and tell them how great I think it is that they’ve taken the dog in and are trying to find its owner. Two thumbs up to them!

My quest for good chicken fried steak continued today, and I ended up (on the recommendation of several) at Linda’s for brunch. While my last craving for chicken fried steak was in the evening, this came on at the more reasonable (for Seattle) time of 11am. Convenient, as brunch had just started.

Linda’s Tavern serves their chicken fried steak (known as “The Bullrider Breakfast”) with hash browns, your choice of toast (white, wheat, marbled rye or english muffin), eggs any style, and cream gravy. I have to admire the cook for his eggs, over hard – I’ve had a tough time getting eggs done properly hard at breakfast locales, and this cook got it right. But the chicken fried steak itself? Sadly, it was overcooked, and the batter around the steak itself was almost like a light tempura batter, rather than a (for lack of better description) thicker batter that I’m accustomed to. That, combined with an odd spice that I couldn’t place (either in the batter or in the gravy, of which there wasn’t nearly enough), made it a disappointing experience.

Still, I’ve lived in Seattle for seven years. I’ve lived in my current apartment nearly two, which is literally across the street from Linda’s, and this was my first time there. Although I doubt I’d order the chicken fried steak again, I’ll definitely go back – the ambiance and friendliness of the staff made it worth trying again.

Last week, my wife and I went to see Mirror Mask at the Varsity in the U District, and we were treated to a rather nice show, even though this is essentially Labyrinth without any 80’s garnish (i.e. no David Bowie). Mirror Mask is a collaboration between writer Neil Gaiman, artist Dave McKean and the Jim Henson company. As you might have expected, it features a surrealistic storyline, stunning artwork and illustration, and copious use of amazing puppets, masks, and animations. I highly recommend it.

As a side note, afterwards we went up to Aladdin Falafel. I haven’t eaten here in 5 years, but it’s still the best falafel shop in town.

Daylight Saving: Do you love it or hate it? Either way, I hope you remembered to change your clocks back this morning.

There’s a lot of debate about whether or not Daylight Saving Time is more of a pain than it’s worth. It’s not surprising that most of the complaining is in the spring when we lose an hour, and there is very little in the fall when we get that extra hour at the bar before last call.

If we didn’t use DST, July in Seattle would see sunrise at 4am and sunset at 8. Moving it up an hour is supposed to give us more daylight for our daily activities and commutes, and supposedly saves electricity and gas, though there is evidence for and against that theory.

Things are going to change a little in the future, but not the way some are hoping: Congress has already voted to extend DST. In 2007, it will start on the second Sunday in March and continue until the first Sunday in November – about four extra weeks, giving young trick-or-treaters a little more light with which to collect their sugary booty in more relative safety.

Speaking of safety,- along with the changing of the clocks, we are encouraged to change the batteries in our smoke detectors. ‘Tis the season of dried out evergreen boughs, strings of lights, space heaters and fireplaces. Do yourself a favor and take a couple minutes to ensure your safety.

I first saw the Tiger Lilies a couple of years ago. I’d gotten tickets for the Shockheaded Peter show and had bullied the husband into coming along. I didn’t know who the Tiger Lilies were: all I knew was that someone had done a stage production of Struwwelpeter and no one was going to stop me from seeing it. The husband wasn’t really paying any attention to what was going on (he had had a much more stable childhood than I had), but once we got to the theater he was extremely excited to hear that we were going to see the Tiger Lilies. “Who?” I asked, innocently. I think that night we both saw a side of each other that we had never seen before. Exiting the theatre, we swore never to speak of this again. At least, not until the next time they were in town.(more…)

Posted in music | Comments Off on Scenes Around Town: Playing at the Moore